


Where We Begin

by A_Sirens_Lullaby



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Hopeful Ending, M/M, Sorta slow burn?, Terushima is a terribly insecure boy, and some angst thrown in
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-04 17:04:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10283849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Sirens_Lullaby/pseuds/A_Sirens_Lullaby
Summary: "The end is where we begin,Where broken hearts mend and start to beat again."- TFK





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [smokesque](https://archiveofourown.org/users/smokesque/gifts).



> Some TeruShou for my RarePair Exchange gift! I'm so so soooooo sorry this was so late, work and school kicked my ass but I really hope you enjoy it!

It starts, Yuuji supposes, in freshman year of college. 

Yuuji hadn’t known what to expect when he managed to get accepted into a good university in Tokyo for a degree in architecture. He’s never known anything more than his life in the country, and if what Daichi had told him over the phone was anything to go by, Tokyo was a far cry from the peaceful lifestyle Yuuji had grown up in. 

It had been with a heavy heart that Yuuji had packed his bags the week before the first semester had rolled in and gave his tearful goodbyes to his parents a little sister, throwing every belonging he could fit into the trunk of his car and the rest in the backseat before giving one last wave to his family and taking off.

It hadn’t originally been in the plan to make his first trip to Tokyo by car. His parents had insisted they be the ones to drive their son off to college and make it a family thing, and while that had been all good in words Yuuji wasn’t about to make his parents spend anymore on him then they already had. College wasn’t cheap, and the Terushima family, though not exactly poor, didn’t have nearly the income to pay for their sons college in addition to a family road trip. 

Yuuji’s parents hadn’t been the least bit happy about that when he hinted at that, because who cared if they didn’t have the money? Their first baby was going off to college and they wanted to support him.

Yuuji really loves his parents.

That said, Yuuji still wasn’t going to let them drive him.

“You guys spoils me too much,” was the excuse he had given them, “besides, a car trip sounds  _ fun _ , and it’s only a three hour drive. What's the worst that could happen?”

As it had turned out, the worst that could happen included a flat tire not even an hour into the trip and getting into an argument with an old lady who cut him in line at a coffee shop in a town on the way and then blamed  _ him  _ when the barista was out of her specific brew.

Needless to say by the time Yuuji had made it to his university for check in he was tired, stiff, and just irritable enough that when he had been tugging his luggage behind him to the dorm that would be his new home from then on and someone bumped into him from behind he snapped.

Whirling around, Yuuji had hissed at the man who had hit him.

“Would you watch where you're going?” 

The stranger had back up a bit, hands raised and a sickeningly sweet smile stretched across his face, one eyebrow raised as he bowed a little bit.

“I apologize,” the man started out, “I didn’t mean to run into you. I’m afraid I was a little distracted.”

Yuuji had grumbled at that, guilt starting to creep up his throat for having snapped at a complete stranger not even five minutes into his college life.

Sometimes he wishes he could admit he didn’t remember the rest of the conversation with such stark clarity, but the truth of the matter was he remembered it like it was yesterday, could repeat word for word everything that had followed.

_ Daishou Suguru _ the man had introduced himself as, hand outstretched and grin never faltering even as Yuuji had tripped over his own feet trying to apologize for snapping. The man - Daishou - had brushed it off, saying that from the exhaustion plain on Yuuji’s face that he couldn’t blame him for snapping, before offering his assistance. Part of him had been tempted to say no, still embarrassed from his earlier behavior and unwilling to give himself the chance to make himself look like an even bigger ass than he already did. 

Except Daishou insisted, taking the handle of one of Yuuji’s many suitcases before gesturing for Yuuji to lead the way. 

In the time it takes for them to reach Yuuji’s dorm the blonde learns that Daishou is in his sophomore year, majoring in psychology with a minor in criminal justice, and played wing spiker for the second string on their university's volleyball team. 

By the time all the luggage is placed neatly on Yuuji’s side of the dorm Daishou admits to being late to a meeting with a friend that he’s been forced to meet up with. Yuuji had expected that to be the end of the entire exchange, grinning down at the new contact in his phone and the promise to hang out sometime before class began and to give the younger a tour of the campus, when Daishou had stopped at the doorway and turned around.

“You know,” he started out, “you never asked me why I had been distracted earlier.”

If Yuuji was being honest he’d say he nearly had forgotten about being bumped into in the first place. His confusion must have shown, if the amusement on Daishou’s face was anything to go by, but nonetheless he asked why Daishou had been distracted.

Daishou grinned. “I was distracted by the cute blonde walking in front of me.”

_ It starts with a grin that does  _ things _ to Yuuji’s heart and a cheesy pick up line that leaves him flushed from head to toe. _

It starts again when college life turns out to be a hell of a lot more stressful than Yuuji had ever thought possible. When Yuuji is neck deep in deadlines and projects 3 months into the semester and so close to just saying  _ fuck it  _ and breaking down right then and there because he can’t do this, he really just  _ can’t _ .

By this point in time Daishou had become a sort of constant, steady presence in Yuuji’s life. Initial flirting aside it turns out the two had a lot more in common then originally thought, and before they even knew it they were best friends and Daishou was the one thing Yuuji could count on to keep his head afloat in the ever constant stream of stress.

Yuuji doesn't think even Daishou could help him then if he were being honest. Being in class 7 in high school had made it seem like he’d fly through college with ease, what with all the college prep classes under his belt. 

God he was so naive.

Now he was suffering for such a childish thought, struggling to keep up with the pace of his basics and producing adequate blueprints for his major-based classes. He’s been living on three cups of espresso for at least a week now and he’s fairly certain that the poor barista at his favorite cafe will never be able to forget his ridiculously long and complicated order now with as many times a day as she has to hear it. 

It’s  _ because  _ Yuuji is so stressed out he doesn’t even realize he’s missed one of his weekend meetups with Daishou at the movies or that his phones been dead for the last two days. His life hasn’t extended any further than his laptop and desk aside from the bathroom and, if he’s really lucky, his bed. It’s because of all these things and more that he doesn’t even notice when Daishou comes barging into his room, giving a passing greeting to his roommate, until he promptly shuts his laptop shut.

“What the  _ fuck  _ Daishou _ -” _

“When was the last time you left your dorm?”

Yuuji pauses at the glare Daishou sends him with the question, mouth sealed shut because that is not an question he has an answer to at the moment.

Daishou seems to have understood his silence regardless, because before Yuuji even realizes what’s happening he’s been hefted off the chair and over Daishou’s shoulder.

“Daishou what the fu- put me down! Dammit I have work to do!”

Daishou ignores him, arms locked over the back of Yuuji’s knees to keep him in place as he shifts through Yuuji’s closet for a fresh pair of clothes. “Do you own anything at all that’s even the least bit presentable?”

Yuuji squawks at that, indignant scowl on his face because of  _ course  _ he does, all of his clothes are presentable, and he’s about to protest his friend’s statement until Daishou lets out a cry of victory and Yuuji suddenly finds himself thrown on the bed.

It takes a second for it to register, trying to get back some of the air that had so rudely been knocked out of his lungs to realize Daishou’s  _ straddling him _ , signature smirk in place as he waves around a shirt Yuuji didn’t even know he owned in front of his face.

“Alright princess, time to strip,” Daishou teased as he tugged on Yuuji's shirt, “because we are going out tonight to have a fun time and I refuse to be seen with you when you look like you just crawled out of a dumpster.” And with that, he’d promptly pushed himself off Yuuji to wait outside.

Yuuji hadn’t even realized how fast his heart had been beating until the sudden warmth from Daishous body isn’t there anymore, nor how red his face must be until his roommate snorts from where they’ve been perched on their own bed watching the entire deal go down.

“You two are so fucking gay,” is all they say on the matter with a smirk before retreating back to their own laptop and really, Yuuji’s inclined to agree.

_ It starts with dancing on the line between friendship and more, and a source of stability Yuuji so desperately needs. _

Yuuji doesn’t even know what he’s supposed to say to the sight that’s in front of him. He knows he should say  _ something  _ really, considering the poor guy in front of him is looking paler and paler the longer Yuuji remains quiet. Really the entire situation itself is more than a little bizarre because for all his flirting around and attempts to impress guys and girls the like, Yuuji very rarely finds  _ himself  _ being the one asked out. The guy got flowers and everything too, same method as Yuuji himself would have used and really he’d impressed if he wasn’t so dumbstruck by the entire thing.

The first thing Yuuji finds himself wanting to ask is “ _ why” _ followed by an “ _ are you insane”  _ because for all his seeming self confidence he cannot honestly come up with a single reason anyone would actively seek him out for a date. He’s loud, annoying, too blunt and easily distracted to the point that reading the atmosphere at times is damn near impossible. It’s partly why he flirts as often and easily as he does, because he knows none of it's really going to get him anywhere other than possibly a different bed for the night.

Now dates on the other hand. Dates he doesn’t really do. 

The poor guy is obviously backpedaling now, taking Yuuji’s silence as a rejection, and the guys apologizing for disturbing him, tugging the flowers behind his back and Yuuji panics and - “Yes!” 

The guy freezes the exact moment Yuuji does when he realizes what he just blurted out. He hadn’t exactly meant to say yes, but he hadn’t wanted to say no either because this is new and different and  _ fun  _ and really what does Yuuji really have to lose from one date? The guy smiles at him, relief evident on his face and it's so contagious Yuuji can’t stop the smile from spreading across his own face as he sheepishly takes the flowers offered to him. It’s not often he sees a bouquet of sunflowers, and he can feel his face burn when the guy tells him he got them specifically with Yuuji in mind. 

By the time he heads back to his dorm it's already past the time he was set to meet up with Daishou and he doubts his friend is still waiting for him. He only discovers otherwise when he opens the door to his room and sees Daishou playing on his tablet.

He wonders if it should have been an obvious sign when the first thing Daishou had asked was where the flowers came from, even if it had been asked with a teasing smile and a raised eyebrow.

Yuuji just grinned sheepishly as he apologized, going on about how the flowers had been a gift and that apparently he had a date that upcoming Friday.

“Would you look at that ladies and gentleman,” Daishou had started, “our dear little  _ Yuuji  _ is all grown up.”

Yuuji pushed his friend off the bed, not entirely certain if the blush on his face was from laughing so hard at the squawk Daishou let out the moment he met the floor or from something else he couldn’t question.

Yuuji figures that they’d get on with what they had planned for the night since Daishou had been kind enough to wait on him, already sorting through the stack of DVD’s for their next terrible movie night. Except then Daishous pushing himself off the ground with an apologetic smile, phone in hand as he turns to Yuuji.

“Everything ok?”

“Yeah,” Daishou said, “Naoyasu just texted me is all. Having some trouble in paradise it seems. He left the spare key I had given him before back home so he needs me to let him in. So I gotta head out.”

Yuuji tries to ignore that flicker of disappointment he feels at the thought of Daishou leaving, shooing his friend off with a reassuring smile and wishes for the best in regards to Kuguri’s troubles. He doesn’t see the withering glare Daishou sends to the flowers taking up residence on his desk before he leaves. Just like he doesn’t notice the way Daishou makes it a point to avoid his room until he knows the flowers are long dead and gone.

_ It starts with jealousy and fleeting moments of chances missed without them even realizing. _

Yuuji wasn’t really thinking when he stumbled his way through the dark streets down the road from the club he’d ran from, wasn’t really thinking past the ache in his chest and the tears streaming down his face. The only thing he  _ was  _ thinking about are the ignored texts and missed calls left on his boyfriend's phone from Yuuji, of the continuous canceled dates and half-assed excuses about how his boyfriend is just too busy or sick or s _ omething _ that usually means Yuuji’s going to spend the night alone yet again instead of with his boyfriend like planned. It usually means that once again Yuuji would be dialing Daishous number with the excuse of them not having hung out in a while, even if Daishou had just come over the day before for the same exact reason as this time.

Except he never called Daishou.

No  _ instead  _ what Yuuji had decided was that he was done throwing his little pity party and forcing Daishou to play along and spend the night watching cheesy rom-coms in one of their beds. Yuuji needed to have fun, to have a night where he could just let go for a little bit and dance away his troubles for even just an hour. Yuuji couldn’t remember the last time he had gone to a club just for the hell of it, so really the night should be good for him right?

That thought was all fine and good until he ran into his boyfriend. His lying, no good  _ cheating  _ ass of a boyfriend. 

Yuuji isn’t sure why he’s so surprised. He knew from the moment their first date had ended that there was no  _ way  _ that guy would ever find him interesting enough to ask for a second date. Except he  _ had  _ and then came a third date and a fourth until suddenly Yuuji had himself a boyfriend and had fallen in love. 

He’s starting to see why he never bothered with dating in the first place. If this is where it ultimately ended up he never wanted to bother with it again.

By the time he’s made it about a block from the club Yuuji finally realizes he doesn’t exactly have anywhere to go. He could go back to his own dorm of course, but the thought of waking up his roommate and facing their wrath isn’t exactly appealing, and when his heart's breaking that last thing he wanted was to be near someone. 

Or at least someone that wasn’t his best friend.

Yuuji can’t honestly remember calling Daishou, nor does he remember anything past his friend driving up to where Yuuji had curled up on the sidewalk to take him back to his place. 

He does remember crying his heart out the moment they set foot into Daishous dorm though.

“I want to say I don’t get it,” Yuuji had sobbed as Daishou had pulled him into a hug, “I want to say I could never imagine why he would cheat on me except I  _ can  _ and I can’t even blame him for it.”

Yuuji can count on one hand the number of times he’s ever seen Daishou genuinely pissed off. It’s such a rare sight that Yuuji sometimes forgets his friend is capable of emotions outside of teasing remarks and a fond smile. 

This is one of those times he remembers though.

“You really don’t get how amazing you are do you?” Daishou had asked once Yuuji’s sobs had quieted just a bit. “You really don’t  _ get _ how lucky that guy was to have even managed to get a date with you in the first place, let alone got lucky enough to have you as a boyfriend. You don’t get any of that even when the fact of the matter is you were too good for that guy from that start.”

Yuuji had wanted to protest that, tell Daishou that he  _ wasn’t _ all those things, that Yuuji had been lucky to have even been asked out on a date in the first place. 

Daishou hadn’t given him the chance.

“You deserved better Yuuji, a hell of a lot better than that asshole. He’s an idiot for even thinking someone else was worth cheating on you for.” A pause, before Daishous grip on him tightened just a bit. “You deserve the world Yuuji. I just wish you could see that.”

Yuuji may not agree right then, but the way Daishou holds him close even as Yuuji’s world seems like it's falling apart, like he’s something  _ important _ , convinces him that one day he just might.

_ It starts with heartbreak, with nights spent curled in the arms that cared and loved him without him ever knowing and expecting nothing in return. _

Yuuji is 20 years old when he realizes he has never known what love really is. 

He’s 20 years old when he realizes that he has the chance to.

##    
  
  



End file.
